Food For Thought

Ghetto · March 23, 2015, 12:36:58 PM

A few thoughts from the nose bleeds...

I love the tenacity of Ryan (Bradley) Taylor. I like the way he wrestles and I would say my favorite Badger. He clearly has passion. But dang it was disappointing to see him run right through a mat with wrestling still going on to avoid whatever he was trying to avoid. Shake the hand.

I hope that Jesse Thielke wrestles again for Wisconsin. I always hope to see him do well. He shows flashes.

I thought Isaac Jordan was as active on his feet and aggressive as he's ever been. His place is disappointing, but I thought his effort was great. He could have been a finalist just as easily IMO.

Frank Cousins did well to make the tournament. He wrestled a few decent matches. Not super aggressive. I wonder if the Michigan forum is blowing up over Massa giving up. The kid clearly didn't want to be out there in that round vs. Cousins.

Ricky Robertson is the real deal. He attacks and attacks. Even in the matches he lost, he was on offense. IDK if he's ever done a ton of lifting, but with his technique, I think it would put him in the top five if he was stronger.

Tim McCall will always be an enigma. He might be a high level freestyler with his double. He actually rode a kid and scored backpoints. I think in one match he had over 6 minutes of riding time. That really made me laugh.

Connor Medberry is impressive. He looks much more confident this year than last. He could be a national champion IMO. He struggles with the Telfords of the world because of their size, but the heavies right now are more like Connor's build than Telford's.

Overall, it is frustrating to see kids not go on bottom.

It was only my second tournament, but overall we need to build a bigger Wisconsin fan base. Penn State had two coach busses full of folks. Iowa shows up en masse. We were by the Wisconsin section, and there weren't many.

nutters55 · March 23, 2015, 02:02:22 PM

Sorry Ghetto but I do not expect fans to travel to watch the Badgers compete in wrestling. They are simply not a good enough program from top to bottom to get strong support from the fan base. Fans of all Wisconsin sports show up and support their teams and programs when the program competes and can demonstrate even a sliver of success. This Wrestling team under Davis has never given that to the supporters or fans of wrestling in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a strong wrestling community, fans came out for the Big Ten Championships last year, and pack the Kohl Center for High School events, but their is a weak level of commitment to the Badgers, and it is because the Badgers' wrestling program is mediocre at best. Changes need to be made, It would be hard to imagine that everyone involved in this program isn't doing everything possible to put out a winning program, but it is just not working.

DocWrestling · March 23, 2015, 02:08:44 PM

All I hear about now is how many WI high school football coaches love Paul Chryst as they get questions answered, responds to e-mails, they get to meet him often, he puts on clinics, befriends them all etc. Heading to the UW football coaches clinic this Thursday which will be the first with Chryst as the big boss where he was only the assistant in the past.

What kind of relationship does Barry Davis have with HS coaches? What does he do to help and support WI high school wrestling?

Huckfinn · March 23, 2015, 03:18:41 PM

Quote from: DocWrestling on March 23, 2015, 02:08:44 PMWhat kind of relationship does Barry Davis have with HS coaches? What does he do to help and support WI high school wrestling?

I think you got your causes and effects bass ackwards. The notion that WI is going to get to next level by building the WI farm system (high schools) which will lead to success at college level is extremely unlikely. Do you think the coach at West Virginia is building that program with WV wrestlers? Only a few states have that luxury.

I'm not dismissing the value of developing some synergy, but it is not going to be the initial driver for success.

More likely, getting some national recruits into Madison can elevate the program. That can help build enthusiasm for wrestling. I agree with some opinions in this thread that attracting recruits is a matter of having the right coaches here. I don't know if Barry Davis is a good foundation, and I don't mean that as a slight, such an evaluation is beyond me.

boowrestle · March 23, 2015, 04:12:15 PM

Jmo,With wrestling program will not take the big jump until they start getting some of the top out of state recruits,some of you need to realize that a lot of our in state top high school recruits are not div1 caliber.there hasn't been very many Alex derringer caliber kids that have gotten away,we even got theilke who by far was out top in state kid(how has that gone?).jmo,it may be time to get some new young blood in there that can pull in the top recruits.

Ghetto · March 23, 2015, 05:31:08 PM

I'm a fan of Sammie Henson. He's going to move from West Virginia after some success. His finalist was from PA. I agree that if the talent pool isn't here, you go elsewhere.

I don't have any other frame of reference, but Coach Davis is not visible to coaches in the state. Idk however that any B1G coaches work all that close with the high school coaches in their state.

Harris · March 23, 2015, 06:30:57 PM

Quote from: DocWrestling on March 23, 2015, 02:08:44 PM
All I hear about now is how many WI high school football coaches love Paul Chryst as they get questions answered, responds to e-mails, they get to meet him often, he puts on clinics, befriends them all etc. Heading to the UW football coaches clinic this Thursday which will be the first with Chryst as the big boss where he was only the assistant in the past.

What kind of relationship does Barry Davis have with HS coaches? What does he do to help and support WI high school wrestling?

Good post! Your example is similar to a high school wrestling coach developing their youth program to achieve success at the high school level. Makes sense to me.

DocWrestling · March 23, 2015, 07:12:29 PM

Quote from: Ghetto on March 23, 2015, 05:31:08 PM
I'm a fan of Sammie Henson. He's going to move from West Virginia after some success. His finalist was from PA. I agree that if the talent pool isn't here, you go elsewhere.

I don't have any other frame of reference, but Coach Davis is not visible to coaches in the state. Idk however that any B1G coaches work all that close with the high school coaches in their state.

Sure got Moisey to come out of nowhere at NCAA tourney! Peaking at the right time.

Brett Favre - R.I.P. · March 23, 2015, 11:38:00 PM

Jaguar hit the nail on the head and a lot of you keep giving me crap for saying it. The UW wrestling program went in the tank when Donny Pritlaff left. Barry Alvarez and Barry Davis should have kept their word and made Donny the head coach when Davis' contract was up. UW was getting some of the best recruits in the country and it had nothing to do with Barry Davis

bigG · March 24, 2015, 06:37:41 PM

So, do we now offer DP the job? I didn't follow most of the WV kids. Was this Sammie's rasslin' partner. If so, I worry. Would I like UW to wrestle more like Sammie? You bet! I'm partial to his wrestling skills. I always tried wrestling very much like he did/does; jiss not quite as well as he does/did.

One of my favorites and an RPW Hall-of-Famer!

vsmf2010 · March 27, 2015, 04:46:10 PM

Quote from: Brett Favre on March 23, 2015, 11:38:00 PM
Jaguar hit the nail on the head and a lot of you keep giving me crap for saying it. The UW wrestling program went in the tank when Donny Pritlaff left. Barry Alvarez and Barry Davis should have kept their word and made Donny the head coach when Davis' contract was up. UW was getting some of the best recruits in the country and it had nothing to do with Barry Davis

If DP is the answer why did he not get the head job at Michigan? Wasn't he supposed to be the coach in waiting there? Is he going to get the head coach job at Rutgers? He is on his 4th assistant job now.

Ghetto · March 27, 2015, 05:54:43 PM

Pritzlaff is going to have to take a low level head coaching job and prove he can do it. He keeps shooting for positions that are coveted by guys who actually have experience as a head coach.

Brett Favre - R.I.P. · March 27, 2015, 09:32:00 PM

No he wasn't the coach in waiting at Michigan.
And Woody, Donny doesn't do what Donny wants. He got lied to and screwed over by Barry Davis and Barry Alvarez at UW. Davis was supposed to be done when his contract was up and Donny was to be the head coach. Alvarez renewed Davis' contract and Donny interviewed at Michigan without permission.
Believe me, I was involved in Donny getting promoted to assoc. head coach.
We were sitting in the Las Vegas airport when Barry fired Donny.
If Alvarez would have kept his word that Donny was going to be named head coach when BD's contract was up, Donny would be the head coach at UW and UW would be in the top 5 in the country.
You guys that think you know so much about this situation are clueless

Briopiate · March 27, 2015, 09:52:31 PM

I like Barry Davis, but I have to admit that if Donny P was announced as the new Badger head coach...I would be pretty excited about it.

Ghetto · March 28, 2015, 05:21:58 PM

http://m.espn.go.com/ncb/story?storyId=12571138

This definitely trumps the Sender firing. 14 NCAA berths in 17 years.